Broderick McDonald

Had an incredible time at the Oxford Generative AI Summit last week. Thanks to my fellow panellists Sara Wahedi, Daisy McGregor, Amy Harland, and Robert Trager for a great discussion

More: www.oxgensummit.org/speakers2025...

Recent work: cetas.turing.ac.uk/about/our-te...

Look forward to speaking about the Geopolitics of AI at the Oxford Generative AI Summit later this week. Come say hi if you're in Oxford on Oct 16-17!

Agenda: oxgensummit.org
About: oxgensummit.org/speakers2025...

We were actually getting somewhere, too. 😞

@sbmitche.bsky.social
www.library.hbs.edu/working-know...

MIT Rejects Proposed Federal Compact MIT is the first institution to reject a proposal by the Trump administration that would trade preferential treatment on federal funding in exchange for far-reaching changes.

MIT rejects federal compact:

www.insidehighered.com/news/governa...

MIT rejects "compact" proposed by the Trump administration.
MIT prez wrote: it "would restrict freedom of expression and our independence as an institution" and "is inconsistent with our core belief that scientific funding should be based on scientific merit alone."
orgchart.mit.edu/letters/rega...

I recently spoke to The International Risk Podcast about Syria and the opportunities & challenges ahead. Listen below:

Full episode:
theinternationalriskpodcast.com/episode-270-...

Guest profile: Broderick McDonald — The International Risk Podcast
theinternationalriskpodcast.com/broderick-mc...

Syria announces plan with Jordan, US to restore calm in Druze-majority Suweida The Syrian government has announced a joint plan with Jordan and the United States aimed at restoring calm in the southern province of Suweida.

The #Syrian government announced an agreement with #Jordan and the US this week that seeks to restore calm in Suweida following sectarian violence which killed over 2,000 people. The agreement comes with a UN investigation into the nature of the clashes.

Accused French Islamic State members held in Syria sent to Iraq for trial, officials say Forty-seven French citizens suspected of being Islamic State members have been handed over to Iraq for prosecution

Syrian officials sent 47 French nationals suspected of being Islamic State members to Iraq for prosecution two months ago, Iraqi officials reported Thursday. The individuals had been held in Kurdish-run state prisons in Northeast Syria since their arrest.

**Call for contributors to the Elgar Concise Encyclopaedia of Terrorism Law**

@jessieblackbourn.bsky.social, @drkatyvaughan.bsky.social and I are compiling a new Concise Encyclopaedia of Terrorism Law, to be published by Edward Elgar. So far we have commissioned over 100 entries with a fantastic

After breaking into the US Institute of Peace (USIP) Monday, DOGE members immediately got to work taking down signs to erase the independent agency.

Photos taken yesterday shared directly with me:

Tunisia has forcefully descended into a new dictatorship, staging mass trials of political prisoners that echo Ben Ali's kangaroo courts of the 1990s.

Kais Saied's rule by fiat makes a mockery of Tunisia's democratic decade (2011-21). And a great many people are being crushed under its wheels.

Hello @vox-pol.bsky.social ! Great to see you here. Anyone interested in cutting edge online extremism research, do give them a follow! 💻

voxpol.eu

Trump Administration Plans to Eliminate More Than 80,000 Veterans Affairs Employees The job reductions would be a major escalation of the downsizing that has already occurred at the department, which provides health care and many other services to veterans.

www.nytimes.com/2025/03/05/u...

(WSJ) - The world economy could face a crash similar to the Great Depression of the 1930s unless the U.S. rows back on its plans to impose steep tariffs on imports, a senior official at the International Chamber of Commerce warned.

@wsj.com
www.wsj.com/economy/trad...

That was their goal.

Health Programs Shutter Around the World After Trump Pauses Foreign Aid

People are going to die because of this.

Health Programs Shutter Around the World After Trump Pauses Foreign Aid www.nytimes.com/2025/02/01/h...

Health Programs Shutter Around the World After Trump Pauses Foreign Aid Lifesaving treatment and prevention programs for tuberculosis, malaria, H.I.V. and other diseases cannot access funds to continue work.

Health Programs Shutter Around the World After Trump Pauses Foreign Aid
Lifesaving treatment and prevention programs for tuberculosis, malaria, H.I.V. and other diseases cannot access funds to continue work. www.nytimes.com/2025/02/01/h...

Ukraine reels from ‘worst-case scenario’ suspension of US foreign aid USAid pause affects projects such as veteran rehabilitation, independent media and humanitarian assistance Ukraine is reeling from the shock decision by the Trump administration to pause all US foreign aid programmes immediately, as a variety of projects…

Ukraine reels from ‘worst-case scenario’ suspension of US foreign aid

Trump is dismantling USAID—its website has been disrupted, funding frozen for most foreign aid programs, and vital aid efforts are being scaled back. It’s an attempt to silence humanitarian efforts and consolidate power. Lives are at risk.

This. The president is violating the constitution, firing the civil servants who keep us safe on airplanes, defunding research into cancer and Alzheimer’s, and even cutting foreign aid that will result in child deaths.
www.propublica.org/article/trum...

FEWS NET, which detects famine outbreaks, has shut down per Trump’s freeze on all foreign aid.

USAID website goes offline amid Trump administration’s freeze on foreign aid | CNN Politics The website of the US Agency for International Development went offline without explanation Saturday as thousands of furloughs, layoffs and program shutdowns continued amid President Donald Trump’s fr...

USAID website goes offline amid Trump administration’s freeze on foreign aid

www.cnn.com/2025/02/01/p... @apnews.com

Trump just cut your family’s purchasing power by $3500.

A reminder that the last time Trump imposed tariffs it caused a slowdown in the US economy…

The Right Way to Engage With Syria’s New Rulers Economic aid can undermine rebel leaders.

After surveying and interviewing hundreds of former and active rebel fighters in Syria, Nafees Hamid, Nils Mallock, @broderickmcdonald.bsky.social, and Rahaf Aldoughli discuss their findings—and explain how outside actors can help Syria’s new leaders build a fair and stable government.

Pleased to share my latest article for Just Security (@justsecurity.org)

Jolani shocked the world when he toppled #Assad in just 12 days, but the groundwork for the operation was laid years before. I share the inside story of how HTS prepared for this moment ⬇️
www.justsecurity.org/106215/syria...

Spoke with BBC News about Assad's future in Russia and the direction of Jolani's new transitional government in Syria in the weeks & months ahead

www.youtube.com/watch?v=KM78...

Pleased to share my latest article for Just Security (@justsecurity.org)

Jolani shocked the world when he toppled #Assad in just 12 days, but the groundwork for the operation was laid years before. I share the inside story of how HTS prepared for this moment ⬇️
www.justsecurity.org/106215/syria...